The incessant barking of dogs can be quite a nuisance, especially when you are trying to get some sleep at night. However, there are many reasons why dogs bark, especially during inopportune times in the day. If this is your problem, we can offer you some ways to figure out what dose causes may be and how to stop the barking in the process.
Once you get to know the reasons, you will easily be able to handle the loud howling whenever you need to. Would you like to learn how to do this properly? The next few paragraphs will give you the answers.
Contents
Why Do Dogs Bark?
Barking is a dog’s primary way of communicating with his environment and the community around him. It is imperative to figure out the reasons why the dog yelps, especially if it happens regularly and relentlessly.
This section will discuss those possible reasons and how to figure out the meaning of the yapping itself. Once you can figure out what the sound means precisely, it will be easier for you to help your pet whenever necessary. Below are some of those reasons as follows:
1. Distress and Stress
Like humans, dogs can feel the emotion as well. However, since they are not verbal creatures, the only way for them to catch the attention of their owner would be to growl. If they feel pain or any unpleasant emotion, chances are they will want to get your attention if you are the owner.
2. Aggression
The fight reflex can also cause barking. Some dogs bay because they want to scare away their foes or if they want to exert dominion over their territory. Whatever the reason may be, the barking may serve as a show of force from the animal.
3. Fear
If they are afraid of getting hurt or they feel sick, they will surely woof for help. They will also do this; if they see something unfamiliar or if they feel threatened by anything foreign. If this happens, it would be best for you to remove the source of their fear right away.
4. Hunger
If dogs are hungry, they will do everything in their power to capture your attention to get food.
5. Play
Some dogs yap because they want to play with you. This is the most straightforward reason to address for sure. All you have to do is to give them some love and affection, and everything else will follow.
Aside from knowing the reasons for barking, always remember that animal emotions tend to be, so it is essential to address the reasons behind their barking as soon as possible. Failure to do this may lead to the detriment of the dog.
5 Simple Tips on How to Get Dogs to Stop Barking
If you really would like to stop the dog from barking, you have to follow these essential steps first. These steps will help you figure out how you can train your dog to control the barking impulse so as not to hear the sound of their voice continuously, especially at night.
1. Figure Out the Reason and Address It
The first step would be to figure out the cause of the barking itself. There are many possible reasons for the behavior. If you want it to stop, you have to find out why your pet does it in the first place.
Once you figure it out, you have to remove the stimulus right away to stop the barking. Here are specific steps that you can take.
If he is sick, treat the ailment right away to stop him from barking out in pain.
If he is barking at another dog, it would be best to remove him from the situation. If he wants food and is barking to get some, it would help you to feed him right away.
If he wants to play with you, get him the attention that he needs by playing. Provide him with toys that he can use on his own when you’re not around.
2. Train Your Dog Not to Do It as an Impulse or Reaction
The next step would be to train your dog to not react with barking right away. If you feel that there’s no apparent reason why the pet is barking, you can ignore him or her.
If you’re training your pets you stay in one place or to use a particular corner of the house for his business; chances are he will growl to get out of the situation.
To prevent this type of behavior, it would be best to ignore your pet until he stops barking. Once he stops, you can give him a prize or a treat for good behavior. The same goes if your pet has a habit of eating multiple times a day, even if they have already been fed.
You can train him to use other objects to create noise that will get your attention if he wants something.
3. Teach Your Dog to Be Social
If your dog yelps because of other pets, the best way to address the situation is to make sure that your dog stays away from the aggressive animal. It would be best to place him in social cases with dogs and humans alike so that he will get used to the idea of being with others.
Dogs tend to become aggressive when they are in unfamiliar territory. If you teach them to socialize with other dogs and their human companions, it will minimize the risk of them barking at their fellow animals.
4. Have Them Spayed or Neutered
An animal’s sexual drive can be one of the main reasons why he makes noise all the time. This holds, especially if the canine is howling at a female dog or vice versa.
If you want him to stop barking to get the attention of the other critters in the neighborhood for mating, it would be best to have them spayed or neutered as soon as possible. This will minimize the risk of danger for smaller dogs and you have to take care of more puppies than you can handle.
5. Relax Around the Pet
Animals are known to have heightened senses. They can quickly feel if they are being tracked or followed and if a threat is looming at them. They can also pick up human emotion quite easily. For this reason, your dogs will be able to sense if you are feeling distressed or angry at them.
The moment they pick this up, they may feel the need to wail either to scare you away or just as a normal reaction to your own heightened emotion. Barking serves as their form of initial defense whether against you or another entity entirely.
To prevent this from happening, you have to make sure that you’re always relaxed around animals, especially dogs. If they feel that they have no reason to fear you or fight you, they will not bark at you for sure.
Conclusion
These are just some of the many ways that can help you stop your pet from making noise. The key here is to figure out what they need exactly. They’re barking to call your attention. As the owner, you have to attend to their needs as much as you possibly can.
By doing this, you will appease them and be able to stop the barking right away.
Thank you. Learned a lot about myself and my pooch. ONE BIG PROBLEM stay on a plot with 4 Alsations that was left behind when owners moved to America. They are not disciplined and since they moved here, they constantly fight we had to separate them. Three girls and the “Shlach” Two smaller dogs so we are on about 24-hour watch to keep the peace!!
You need to invest some of your time to train them, and the most important thing is to be patient. Here some common ways to discipline your dog and the things to avoid.
Thank you so much for talking about how to teach a dog to stop barking in a very calm manner by ignoring it until it stops. The last thing I want is to have to punish it harshly because of the noise it makes as this might have the opposite effect and make it an aggressive dog that could bite people. I’ll keep this tip in mind so I can practice it when I start taking online dog training sessions with my puppy.